Edmund Blacket

Edmund Blacket
Born
Edmund Thomas Blacket

(1817-08-25)25 August 1817
Died9 February 1883(1883-02-09) (aged 65)
Petersham, Sydney, Australia
Resting placeBalmain Cemetery;
subsequently relocated to St Andrew's Cathedral
MonumentsCamperdown Cemetery
Occupations
Employers
Notable work
StyleVictorian Gothic (revival)
SpouseSarah Blacket (née Mease)
Children8
RelativesCousins:

Edmund Thomas Blacket (25 August 1817 – 9 February 1883) was an Australian architect, best known for his designs for the University of Sydney, St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney and St. Saviour's Cathedral, Goulburn.

Arriving in Sydney from England in 1842, at a time when the city was rapidly expanding and new suburbs and towns were being established, Blacket was to become a pioneer of the revival styles of architecture, in particular Victorian Gothic. He was the most favoured architect of the Church of England in New South Wales for much of his career, and between late 1849 and 1854 was the official "Colonial Architect to New South Wales".

While Blacket is famous for his churches, and is sometimes referred to as "The Wren of Sydney",[a] he also built houses, ranging from small cottages to multi-storey terraces and large mansions; government buildings; bridges; and business premises of all sorts. Blacket's architectural practice was highly influential in the development of Australian architecture. He worked with a number of other architects of both Australian and international importance: James Barnet, William Wardell and John Horbury Hunt. Among his children, Arthur, Owen and Cyril followed him into the profession. The successful architect William Kemp also trained in his practice.[2]

Edmund Blacket is regarded by descendants of the Blackett[b] family as "a man of the strictest probity with a great love for his profession, who also studied the classics, and was considered the leading authority on Classical Greek in Sydney, loved music, playing the organ at the temporary wooden pro-Cathedral, was a competent wood-carver and an amateur mechanical engineer".[3]

  1. ^ Kirtley, Al; Blackett, Martin; Longbottom, Pat (2007). "The Famous (or nearly so) Blacketts: Architecture". The Blacketts of North East England. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  2. ^ Herman, Morton (1963). The Blackets, an Era of Australian Architecture. Angus and Robertson. ISBN 0-207-13454-5.
  3. ^ Blackett family oral history, letters and records


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